Inventory
structure
After
important advances in the earlier part of the last century, the study of the
content of phonological inventories has come under neglect. Current
phonological theories do not, for the most part, raise such questions as the
following: what types of speech sounds can be found in languages? What sounds are preferred to others? Does the presence of certain speech sounds in
a language favor (or disfavor) the presence of other speech sounds? What implications does the presence of certain
speech sounds in an inventory have for the size of the inventory? In my current research, I am testing the view that
distinctive features play a central role in structuring inventories of
contrastive speech sounds in terms of principles such as Feature Economy, Markedness
Avoidance, and Phonological Feature Enhancement:
|
"Maximize the ratio P/F" where P = the number of phonemes F = the minimal number of features required
to characterize them |
"M < U" Within a class of sounds in which a feature F
is potentially distinctive, marked terms M are less frequent than unmarked
terms U |
A vs. B (weak contrast:) A vs. B [+F] (stronger contrast) Weak contrasts may be
enhanced by redundant features |
|
Feature Economy |
Markedness Avoidance |
Phonological Enhancement: |
Selected readings
2006 G. N. Clements, "Markedness and phonological inventories: a
new approach," to appear
2005 G.
N. Clements, "The role of features in speech sound inventories," in
Eric Raimy & Charles Cairns, eds., Contemporary
Views on Architecture and Representations in Phonological Theory.
2003 G.
N. Clements, "Feature economy in sound systems," Phonology
20.3, pp. 287-333
